Show Blue dog v Democrats Democrats' focus on deficits Lori Montgomery The Washington Post Conservative Democrats in the House are challenging their own party to do more to balance the federal budget and restrain government spending highlighting an ideological division among 1 Democrats that could coul l play playa a abig big role in the party's 2008 presidential campaign The Blue Dog Coalition a band of more than 40 House Democrats committed to fiscal discipline plans to introduce legislation this week that would impose caps on some spending enshrine you pay-as-you- go rules in federal law lawand lawand lawand and authorize automatic spending cuts to enforce them The group also wants to amend the US U.S. Constitution to require a balanced budget and to create an array of budget provisions that would focus more attention on what it sees as pork-barrel pork spending The three bills would go beyond budget rules so far enacted by the new Democratic majority which has adopted a blueprint for balancing the budget by 2012 And they would take budget policy in a different direction from the leading Democratic presidential candidates none of whom wants to tie his or her hands by promising to erase the federal deficit while in office Former US U.S. senator John Edwards has been particularly blunt explaining in campaign appearances that he considers a balanced budget to be less important than JI other priorities j 1 Senator Edwards supports the goal of a balanced budget and has been honest and specific about how hes he's going to pay for each his proposals But he believes that universal health care improving education and building a anew anew anew new energy economy are more immediate priorities said Edwards spokesman I Eric Schultz That view contradicts the beliefs of many conservative Democrats whose numbers swelled in Congress after last falls fall's election helping the party regain control of both the House and Senate Cleaning up a fiscal situation that has included record deficits and trillions of dollars in new debt was an important part of the party's message in 2006 said Rep Allen Boyd D a Blue Dog leader and he added that Democrats abandon it at their peril If youre you're saying its it's OK to do new projects without knowing how were we're going to pay for them that's wrong Boyd said We Ve need to act now and not saddle our children and grandchildren with the burden of these huge debts Weve We've been selfish about this long enough Democratic strategists said the battle between balanced budgets and pressing social needs has long divided the party Deficit reduction was a stated Democratic priority through the when a Democratic c Congress enacted laws to cap discretionary spending and to require any increases in mandatory spending such as Social Security or Medicare to be made up through budget cuts or tax increases elsewhere After Bill Clinton moved into the White House in 1993 he worked with Republican congresses to produce multiple balanced budgets the first in a generation But lawmakers' lawmakers appetite for spending restraint collapsed during the surpluses of the late After President Bush took office Republican enthusiasm for big tax cuts combined with a demand for increased spending related to the 2001 terrorist attacks as well as a new Medicare prescription drug benefit to replace the surpluses with record deficits |